BellaVitano Champagne Sauce
Ingredients :
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
¼ cup sweet onion –(small dice)
1 tablespoon crushed garlic
1 bay leaf
½ cup Champagne (dry)
2 cups skim milk
1½ cups half & half
Roux – as needed (see directions below)
1 cup BellaVitano cheese – shredded/shaved
Sea salt & black pepper (to taste)
Instructions :
Cooking Directions:
1, Melt butter in a medium size saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and bay leaf. Cook on medium heat until onion lightly starts to brown.
2. Deglaze pan with Champagne and reduce amount to ¼ cup.
3. Add milk and half & half. Bring just to a simmer and thicken with Roux as you stir with a fine wire whisk. Add Roux slowly, one tablespoon at a time. Sauce should be thick enough to coat the back of a teaspoon but not so thick that it looks like paste.
4. Slowly whisk in BellaVitano cheese until thoroughly combined.
Roux:
1. In a saucepan melt ¼ pound of unsalted butter and stir in ¼ pound of all-purpose flour until there are no lumps. Hold until ready to use. May be stored in refrigerator for up to two months.
Final Preparation:
1. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed with sea salt & pepper. Serve over pasta or as a sauce with chicken, shrimp or scallops.
